Wing for flying-machines.



G. KORP.

WING FOR FLYING MACHINES.

- APPLICATION FILED Mull, 1910.

Pa tented July 2, 1912.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

onone KoRr, or HAMBURG, GERMANY.

WING FOR FLYING-MACHINES..

Letters Patent.

Application filed March 1, 1910. Serial No. 546,719.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Grout. Konr, a subject of the German Emperor, and resident of Hamburg, Germany, have invented eer-v tain new and useful Improvements in lVings for Flying-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to wings for flying machines, and more particularly to the construction and arrangement of feathers for such wings.

Generally speaking, the wings are made in pairs and are substantial duplicates of each other, the only difference being that in one wing-the slope of the various parts is opposite to the slope of the corresponding parts in the opposite wing in the sense that one wing is suitable for the left side of the machine while its mating wing is appropriate for the right side of said machine.

My invention comprehends a wing having a longitudinal tapering member hereinafter designated as a staff made of suitable material more or less resilient, the smaller end of the staff extending to, and in part constitilting, the tip of the wing, together with a number of feat-hers, each having a stem and one or more fins extending from the stem, each fin being of composite structure as hereinafter described and comprising a flex ble web.

I provided with a single fin of composite structure; Fig. 2 is a plan view of a feather used more particularly for supporting the weight of the machine when the latter is soaring Fig. 3 is a plan View of, practically the entire left wing of the machine, this wing being provided with separate feathers, each extend ng directly from it; Flgs. l, 5, 6 and 7 are cross sections upon the lines A-B, of 2 and are substantially alike.

, with the exception that they show the stem of the feather as constructed of different materials and in different forms.

In the feathers shown in Fig.1 the stem appears at a and tapers in thickness so that. itsresiliency varies in a ratio related to its thickness. ,Secured to the .stem a are a number of ribs b extending directly from the stem at various angles, the ribs b ad jacent to the tip 8 of the stem being more nearly parallel with the stem than are theribs 1) more remote from the tip. Secured to the ribs Z) is the web 1 made of silk, satin, Qhinese tissue paper or any appropriate. light fabric permeated with gum or other material whereby it is rendered practically lmpervious to air. The web f, together with the ribs 1) constitute practically a continuous fin extending along almost the full Patented July 2, 1912.

length of the stem. The first rib b adjacent to the thicker end of the stem extends from that latter at an angle at about ninety de-- ,grees and the other ribs 1) progressively diverge, at smaller angles, approximately to the tip of the feather, as will be under stood from Fig. 1. i

In the feather shown in Fig. :2, the construction differs from that appearing in Fig. 1 in that, in addition to the fin colupris ing ribs b and the web 7', I provide another fin made'u of ribs 0 and a web g, this fin being considerably narrower than the one first described and disposed upon the convex side of the stem a, whereas the fin first de scribed is upon the concave stem thereof, the stem being in all instances curved from one ,of its ends to the other, the greatest curvature being toward the tip, so as to present a concave side and a convex side, as will ,be seen from Figs. 1 and 2. The cross ribs 7) and c are made of any suitable elastic light material having more or less firmness.

Accordin g to the form of feather shown in cross section in Fig. 4,the stem a isconsiderably thinner upon its right or convex edge along the line where the web g is located. The plane of the stem (1 coincides ;with the general plane of the cross ribs f, g, the upper and lower surfaces of the stem sloping relatively to each other and the edge carrying the supporting ribs forming an obtuse angle. I find that this construction practically increases the elasticity ofthc supporting ribs and also enables the weight of the feather in proportion; to the work done by the feather to be greatly reduced. Moreover, additional advantage is gained because of the fact that the feather when in action ofi'ers less'resistance to the air.

The stems shown respectively at a in Fig. 5, a in Fig. 6 and a in Fig. 7, while difi'ering in'cross section from that shown in Fig. 4, nevertheless embody the same general principles being thinner at the right or upon the edge carrying the cross ribs'g. the' ribs being successively shorter and making sharper angles toward the tip 8..

An entire wing'made of feathers of the kind above described is shown in Fig. 3. The feathers, being mostly of; the. kind shown in Fig. 2, are so arranged that the narrow fin of one feather slightly overlaps the broad fin of the neat successive feather. The feathers are mounted upon the staff (I and extend from the same atvarying angles. The feathers adjacent to the tip of the staff diverge successively at smaller and smaller angles relatively to the staff, and the feathers adjacent to. the base or portion of greater diameter of the staff diverge or incline in a direction opposite to that of the feathers nearest the base or thickest portion of the and are made large whereas. the feathers toward the tip are made successively smaller and provided with single fins. The last feather toward the left according to F ig. 3 forms practically a continuation. of the staff d. I

' The operation of my device is as follows :The feathers "being formed as described are mounted updn the staff and thus formed into a wing. A flying machine is provided with one or more pairs of these wings and isoperated in the manner well I known in this art. When the machineis in flight, the air pressure 'uponthe underside of the feathers presses the feathers upward and these feathers by virtue of their resilience tend constantly to return to their'normal positions. The feathers are therefore a constantly under tension and assume slightly different positions according'to the air pressure upon them, which is regulated in a measure by the speed of the machine. Such feathers as, during the flight of the machine, .happen to have their stems approximately parallel to the general direction of flight now serve as' s upporting feathers, their principal oflice being to sustain-the weight of the machine as such weight is sustained in soaring. Further, as-the stems a diverge from the proximate direction of the general direction of flight, the greater is the measure of usefulness of such feathers for the purpose ofcarrying the machine forward. The outer feathers therefore which now stand, sayat or near an angle of ninety degrees-tothe general direction of flight serve almost exclusively for purposes of propulsion as'distinguished from serving the purposes of sustaining weight. In this connection, it

may be noted that around the feathers there staff (I which are provided with double fins crease and the outer top feather at last only relatively to their longitudinal axis', as in is a column of air tending to counteract the falling of the machine or the downward movement of the wings as the case may be, and the upward pressure of the air column acts differently upon feathers which are disposed at different angles relatively to the direction of flight. For a feather having the general direction of its stem disposed in the proximate direction of the flight of. theimachine, such feathers ,tends to bond horizontally whenever the movement of the wing is downward. The feather in question, however, in bending tends to convert the .energy due to the bending of the wings into a horizontal forward movement. Another feature, however, which ftll'lTlS tl considerable angle to the line of flight when acted upon by the air pressure, constantly has a tendency to propel the machine forward or in other words to exert apower of traction.

The physical. actions here to be considered are the following: The coluinnof air formed under the feathers counteracts the weight of the wing or apparatusandcurves each single feather upward, that is toward the concave side of the. stem;' each separate feather is accordingly expanded from bottom to top and tends, corresponding to its, elasticity constantly tocontract again. When the feathers lie in the direction of flight, they tend merely to carry weight already lifted by bending horizontally; by the movements of the wings downward, these feathers however would'bend higher than horizontally, and therefore must-be bent with their lower edges at. a pointed angle sloping to the back, and thus convert the vertical movement of the beating of the wings into horizontally forward movements. The fins f are comparatively broad, and the breadth of the fins which are at the rear of the direction of flightincrease constantly,- whereas the breadthof the front fins depossesses a single fin. The air pressure meeting these feathers from below new bends each single feather, in consequence of the resultant of strains upon it, into a horizontal direction. that is, in the direction offlight forward, as illustrated in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2-, the curving being facilitated by the particular arrangement of the cross section of ribs a and 6. These feathers are therefore extended forwardly in horizontal direction, and constantly try to contract in a horizontal direction backward. In other words, the air pressure which acts by the weight of the machine; and its tendency to fall is converted into] horizontal traction,- and this traction is continuous. .By the beating of the wings the feathers adapted for traction are bent forward still farther: and,are at the same, time rotated somewhatthis case the air pressure must act still stronger on the one sided fins of the feathers. By the beating of the wings theforward movement is -in consequence not only accelerated, but a traction or forward movement is always present even without the beating of the wings, by simple soaring flight' in consequence of the horizontal tension of the top feathers. The feathers are constantly endeavoring to expand but are kept thus in tension by the air pressure from below, and as the feathers cannot spring backward, the wing, and with it the flying machine, must follow the tension of the feathers, and thus is propelled forwardly.

A contraction of the feathers can only occur when the air pressure no longer acts from below, and this air pressure is present as long as the flying machine has no other support below itself than the air, on which it rests in'consequence of its weight.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a wing for flying machines, the combination of a staff havm a gradually decreasing diameter towar one of its ends, and a plurality of feathers mounted upon said stafl,'each feather comprising a stem, supporting ribs extending from said stem, and a web mounted upon said supporting ribs.

2 In a wing forflying machines, a feather comprising a stem, a plurality of supporting ribs extending therefrom, each rib being of greater diameter adjacent to its point of connection with said stem than at the outer or free end of said supporting rib, and

i a webof thinmaterial mounted upon said supporting ribs.

ribs extending from said thin'edge, a plurality of longer supporting ribs extending from said thick edge, and Webs of thin material mounted upon said supporting ribs.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORG KORF.

Witnesses Gnono Pmunn'r, HANS LOHMANN.

flwies o this refer may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. c." r 

